30 March, 2018

The High Court of Cassation and Justice challenges law on status of judges and prosecutors in the Constitutional Court.

Newsroom, 30.03.2018, 13:40

Court challenge. The Constitutional Court in Bucharest will discuss on the 19th of
April a formal challenge made by the Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union,
in opposition, against the changes to the justice laws, which the Senate passed
this week. The opponents to this legislation say they again referred the case
to the Constitutional Court because the reexamination conducted by the
parliamentary majority formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance
of Liberals and Democrats did not pay heed to the rulings of the Constitutional
Court. The Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union found 37 counts of
unconstitutionality in the laws on the status of magistrates, on the activity
of the Superior Council of Magistracy and that on judicial organisation. The
High Court of Cassation and Justice has also referred the law on the status of
judges and prosecutors to the Constitutional Court, saying some of its
provisions are unconstitutional. We recall that some of the initial changes to
the justice laws generated the biggest street protests in post-communist
Romania.

Loan. Romania is to
pay back 1.2 billion euros to the European Union in April as part of a stand-by
loan made in 2009, the finance ministry has announced. The total amount to be
paid back to Brussels this year is 1.35 billion euros. By 2023, Romania has to
pay back over 3.5 billion euros to the World Bank and the European Union.
Bucharest has already made several payments in the last three years, the
biggest amount standing at 1.8 billion euros in 2015. According to the National
Bank, in May 2009, the International Monetary Fund approved Romania’s request
for a 2-year stand-by loan worth around 12.9 billion euros.

European funds. Romania has accessed 46 billion euros
worth of European funds since it joined the Union, the minister for European
funds Rovana Plumb told a private television station. She said that by 2020,
the government aims to attract another 30 of the 42.3 billion euros allocated
to Romania in the European Union’s multiannual budget for the 2014-2020 period.

Spy poisoning. The
expulsion of 60 US diplomats and the closing down of a consulate in Russia
marks a further deterioration in the United States-Russia relationship, said
the White House after Russia’s move on Thursday. The Kremlin’s decision was a
tit-for-tat response to Washington’s measures against Moscow in a show of
solidarity with Britain in the wake of the poisoning of a former Russian double
agent and his daughter. The US expelled 60 Russian diplomats and closed
Russia’s consulate in Seattle. The spokesperson for the US State Department
Heather Nauert said Washington is reviewing all its options. The NATO,
countries in the EU and other states also showed their solidarity with Britain.
Romania has also decided to expel one Russian diplomat, with the Romanian
foreign minister Teodor Melescanu saying the measure expressed Romania’s
solidarity over the grave incidents in Great Britain.

Good Friday.
Around one and a half million Roman-Catholic and Protestant Christians in
Romania, which is a majority Orthodox country, today celebrate Good Friday,
which commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. They celebrate Easter on
Sunday, one week ahead of the Orthodox, Greek-Catholic and Neo-Protestant
churches.

Weather. Yellow
and orange code flood alerts are still in place today in Romania for 12 rivers
in the south, south-west, centre, east and north-east of the country. An alert
has also been issued for this week on the Romanian section of the Danube. Because
of the high levels of the Danube, the authorities are monitoring the dams and
taking measures to control flooding. The body responsible for the management of
the Lower Danube has restricted the speed of ships and boats so as not to cause
waves that may damage flood control dams. Temperatures will continue to rise to
unseasonably high levels, especially in the south and west. The highs of the
day range from 10 to 20 degrees Celsius, with 15 degrees in Bucharest at noon.